Moore leads Nets past Timberwolves

Moore scored a career-high 20 points on 9-of-9 shooting and
Jefferson added 23 to lead the Nets to a 100-92 triumph over the
Minnesota Timberwolves.

New Jersey held a 72-66 advantage at the start of the fourth
quarter and opened with a 16-8 run, which was capped by Vince
Carter's fallaway 3-point bank shot with 4:38 remaining, to put
Minnesota away.

The Timberwolves cut the lead to seven with 2:10 to play in the
game on Bracey Wright's jumper, but Jefferson answered with a
3-pointer and Moore hit an 18-foot turnaround jumper and was
fouled. Moore converted the free throw to balloon New Jersey's
lead to 13 with 1:21 left in the session.

"Mikki was pretty effective tonight," Minnesota's Kevin Garnett
said. "He had a good night and he had a stroke going."

Moore, who has played for seven different teams in nine seasons,
was moved into the starting lineup after center Nenad Krstic
suffered a season-ending knee injury on December 22. He had
scored just 13 points in his first three starts before providing
the spark for New Jersey.

"It feels great," Moore said. "I always play hard when I play
against K.G. We're both from South Carolina and I respect him,
so I try to bring my best game."

Moore also tied a season high with eight rebounds and collected
two steals as the crowd at Continental Airlines Arena began
chanting his name late in the fourth quarter.

"With all the success we've had since I've been here, I can only
remember three or four times that the crowd has chanted
someone's name," Jefferson said. "That's huge."

Jason Kidd scored 19 points and Carter added 14 for the Nets,
who shot 53 percent (40-of-76) from the field.

Ricky Davis and rookie Randy Foye each scored 18 points for the
Timberwolves, who shot 49 percent (34-of-69) from the floor.
Garnett added 17 points and had 11 rebounds.

"Playing four games in five nights wore on us and we were
playing catch-up all night," Timberwolves coach Dwayne Casey
said. "We didn't have the focus or energy you need. Mikki
Moore came in and pounded us. It showed us that we didn't have
the mental toughness we needed to win the game."